Sir, —Writing from Cork (HI 16.2, March/April 2008), CliveSinclair-Poulton embraces the view that more needs to be taught on whathappened in the 1920s and he reckons that there should be no taboos. Isay Amen to both propositions. A good place to start might be tworecent (March and April) obituaries in the Irish Times, one for … Read more
Sir, —Risteárd Mulcahy certainly has a point (HI 16.2, March/April 2008) when he states that the role of the IRA’s GHQ staff during the War of Independence has been somewhat ignored. Outside historical circles, who could even name the 13 members of the pre-treaty GHQ staff at the time of the truce in 1921? They … Read more
Sir, —Contrary to your editorial (HI 16.1, Jan./Feb. 2008), the case ofthe Pearson killings was not a ‘truly hidden history’. Among otheraccounts, local historian Paddy Heaney detailed the killings in hisbook At the foot of the Slieve Bloom: history and folklore ofCadamstown, published in 2000. As Brian Hanley argues in his review,the evidence suggests that … Read more
Sir, —In relation to the debate over Hidden History’s Coolacreasedocumentary, Brian Hanley (HI 16.1, Jan./Feb. 2008) says that ‘weshould accept the fact that there was undoubtedly an element ofsectarian conflict during the [Irish] revolution and that some peoplewere targeted for sectarian reasons’. But surely historians should onlyaccept as fact what is demonstrated as fact? If … Read more
Sir, —Your Jan./Feb. 2008 issue proves that controversy still haunts the Irish revolutionary period. Brian Hanley (‘Fear and loathing at Coolacrease’) rightly cautions against emotive approaches to the past, yet he steps into another ahistorical snare: believing that our present republic is a more or less inevitable consequence of the events of that period, rather … Read more